Richard Friedenberg

Richard Friedenberg makes his feature film directorial debut with The Education of Little Tree. Friedenberg was selected by Robert Redford to write the screen adaptation for A River Runs Through It, a script which won him an Oscars nomination and began his professional association with producer Jake Eberts. The screenplay also earned him the honor of NATO Show West Screenwriter of the Year.

Friedenberg received two Emmy Awards for writing and co­producing and a WGA Award nomination for Best Teleplay for the Hallmark Hall of Fame production, Promise, starring James Garner and James Woods. This sensitive story of a man's love for his schizophrenic brother won the Peabody Award, and additional Emmys were awarded to the director and to stars James Woods and Piper Laurie.

Born in Westchester, New York, Friedenberg studied English literature at the University of Michigan and did graduate work at the Sorbonne in Paris. After returning to Boston, where he was raised, Friedenberg joined an educational film company where his duties included everything from writing to directing. At another educational film company in Salt Lake City, Friedenberg began directing both television and low­budget films. After moving to Los Angeles, Friedenberg wrote Bitter Harvest, a television movie starring Ron Howard, for which he won the WGA Award for Best Teleplay and received his first Emmy nomination in the same category.

His 1991 original script Dying Young starred Julia Roberts. Friedenberg also wrote and directed the 1996 Showtime original movie Mr. and Mrs. Loving. In 1992, Friedenberg toured Somalia for the United Nations and his journal was published in The Village Voice.